Funny this should come up- I rode the whole of Potrero Rd. today (going east) and just about had a heart attack several times. It's described as averaging 9.7%, with max grades of 15%, but I saw 17-18% a few times on the Garmin. Then, I had to climb Westlake/Decker back to Mulholland. That hurt.

I realized, though, that the sole purpose for riding grades above 10-12% is to make the 7-8% grades feel easy.

It's only decker from the Malibu side. Decker ends at the intersection with mulholland highway.

How did you end up all the way out to potrero? Did you go around pt mugu?

I guess that means you did potrero and old potrero... I assume you are talking about the top of the first one before it turns into Lynn.

I was on potrero today also, but it was just the old potrero part that drops you into hidden valley.

Southern Ontario (south of North Bay) has lots of small towns and back roads to explore. Northern Ontario in some places is just two 90km/h highways with transports whizzing past. Near larger towns and cities there is more exploring to do, but you gotta cover a lot of ground to get bewteen the towns and cities.

I am from Thunder Bay originally, and there is lots of great riding in that area, but many hundreds of kms of highway to cover to get there. However, every year when I drive from Eastern Ontario back home, I see many many people making the journey by bike.

Last edited by LarDasse74; 12-27-09 at 02:25 AM.
Reason: No reason, really.

I'm from Manitoba but I took my bike along on a trip to Stratford, ON this past summer. I had a great time riding around Perth County. Compared to the rough, flat and windy roads in Manitoba, this area was a paradise. Nice smooth asphalt, very little traffic, beautiful huge Maple trees lining the roads, historic stone farm houses to look at, farmers markets to stop and browse. It's really a great cycle touring area and in fact the local tourism offices have maps with plenty of great cycling day trips. We combined taking in plays at the Stratford festival, staying at local B&B's (plentiful) and riding out of Stratford each morning for a 30 - 60km ride in Perth County. I'm hoping to do it again next summer.

Have cycled the Waterfront trail from Niagara Falls, to la route Verte in PQ; then on home to Northern VT.
Almost 800 km from the Falls to Verte beginning.
ps- A couple summers ago, my wife and I did this as a credit card tour.
Tried to get motels with continental breakfast or Timmeys for breakfast,
grocery store stops for lunch and usually a nice dinner in the eve. We
didn't stress much on this trip, 80-100 km per day & lots of watching the
world go by. We made the whole trip fit into a 14 day holiday, with one car
travel day to the Niagara Falls start.
It was a little messy getting away from the Falls area, the Waterfront
trail didn't really start until around Niagara on the Lake. The trail is
fairly well marked but every now and then we would be wondering
which way to turn. I believe a group maintains the markings and there
is a map book available, which we found out after our trip. Terrain is
relatively flat, with some rolling hills between Cobourg and Johnstown.
The seaway portion was very pleasant. There is now a sagged tour
during July along the Waterfront trail,

I'm from Toronto. Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County is the best section of the entire Lake Ontario perimeter and is some of the best cycling available. Anyone who passes this way would be well advised not to skip it.

I live in Ontario, and I enjoy the lakeshore route to Montreal. Speaking of Quebec, great place to tour compared to Ontario.

I agree with you that Quebec is much better for cycle touring and we can partially thank the Route Verte for that. It is too bad that Ontario does not have the same type of organisation that could provide information on existing routes.

I'm Canadian and have done a little bit of cycling in Ontario near the Ontario/Manitoba border. Lovely area.

I did one cycle tour in this region about a decade ago and really enjoyed it. I also spent a couple of summers working on the Lake of the Woods and at Manaki and spent my free time mountain biking and canoeing.

I live in southern Ontario, and have fair knowledge of what's in my backyard. Northern Ontario is a different story.

You will discover many excellent touring opportunities in southern Ontario. I have based many trips on the Waterfront Trail, but there are other possibilities, including hybrid trips. On one trip, I followed the Waterfront Trail from Toronto to Kingston, and then zigzagged north-east along (mostly) quiet roads and highways to Ottawa. I have also gone in the other direction, toward Niagara Falls. The backroads that crisscross the Niagara Escarpment are not part of the Waterfront Trail, but are great.

I have toured in Prince Edward County many times since the early-1990s. The absolute best touring experience I had was in France, but Prince Edward County comes a close second. I can't get enough of it. I returned to the County three times in 2009. There is always something new to discover.

Areas of Ontario that I have visited but have yet to tour by bike: backroads near Kitchener; Guelph; Milton; and Peterborough. Following the Ottawa River from Ottawa and Petawawa looks interesting. Next year, I am thinking of tracing the north shore of Lake Erie.

Another area that's nice is Northumberland county, basically between Newcastle and Brighton (on Lake Ontario) north to Rice Lake; hilly and very scenic. Also in that area is Ganaraska Forest Outdoor Centre which is great for mountain biking.

Then there's Manitoulin Island. I've been there 4 times and enjoyed it very much (obviously!). Towns and villages are a bit far apart, especially on the west end. The roads are generally pretty quiet, except maybe for Hwy 6, with the ferry traffic. Mostly flat to rolling with a few big climbs in the north central area. There's a good hiking trail there too, called the Cup and Saucer Lookout Trail.

'Cottage Country' or Muskoka, an hour or so drive north of Toronto, is good place for riding, but be careful with traffic on weekends.

There are a number of nice rail trails too; Georgian trail, Cataraqui, Prescott-Russell, Hastings-Heritage, Victorian-Haliburton, Seguin, Midland Waterfront, Caledon, and a few others that are probably more suited for MTBs.

I've ridden from Espanola east to Sudbury on Jacklin Rd, the TCH shoulder for 8 km (which was okay) Spanish River Rd, then onto old Hwy 17 (C.R. 55). That worked out well. But west from Espanola I haven't. Though I've read about Lee Valley Rd (from Espanola) out to the village of Massey (25 km) as being a good detour. There's another bit of road that might be nice, just east of the Soo: county road 638 at Bruce's Mines to Echo Bay. Looks like it's ~10 km longer though. Maybe a few paralleling gravel roads too? Other than that, it doesn't seem fun...

I've ridden from Espanola east to Sudbury on Jacklin Rd, the TCH shoulder for 8 km (which was okay) Spanish River Rd, then onto old Hwy 17 (C.R. 55). That worked out well. But west from Espanola I haven't. Though I've read about Lee Valley Rd (from Espanola) out to the village of Massey (25 km) as being a good detour. There's another bit of road that might be nice, just east of the Soo: county road 638 at Bruce's Mines to Echo Bay. Looks like it's ~10 km longer though. Maybe a few paralleling gravel roads too? Other than that, it doesn't seem fun...

As you describe, here and there you do find alternatives. There is one old road that helps take you out of the Soo, another that gets you partway into Sudbury and a couple inbetween but nothing consistent and they can be a bit hard to find if you don't have a decent map.